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Toradora! - Taiga Aisaka

Character of the Week? Our very own Tsundere queen, Taiga Aisaka from Toradora! 

Toradora! (in Japanese, とらドラ!) is a Comedy, Slice of Life anime, manga and light novel series, written by Yuyuko Takemiya and illustrated by Yasu. The series includes 10 novels released between March 10th 2006 and March 10th 2009. 3 volumes of a spin-off light novel series were also created, titled Toradora Spin-Off!. A 25-episode long anime aired in Japan between October 2008 and March 2009, and it is the anime I will base this information on.

"Ryuuji Takasu is a gentle high school student with a love for housework; but in contrast to his kind nature, he has an intimidating face that often gets him labeled as a delinquent. On the other hand is Taiga Aisaka, a small, doll-like student, who is anything but a cute and fragile girl. Equipped with a wooden katana and feisty personality, Taiga is known throughout the school as the "Palmtop Tiger". One day, an embarrassing mistake causes the two students to cross paths. Ryuuji discovers that Taiga actually has a sweet side: she has a crush on the popular vice president, Yuusaku Kitamura, who happens to be his best friend. But things only get crazier when Ryuuji reveals that he has a crush on Minori Kushieda - Taiga's best friend! Toradora! is a romantic comedy that follows this odd duo as they embark on a quest to help each other with their respective crushes, forming an unlikely alliance in the process."

Taiga Aisaka is the main female protagonist in the series. Essentially, Taiga is meant to be a deconstruction of the tsundere, showing rapid mood swings, being emotionally unstable, and making poor decisions based solely on emotions. Her steady progress into becoming sweet and kind defies the "bipolar" stereotype of most tsundere characters, who often switch from moods and show no true character development. Yet, I love everything about Taiga!

Despite her delicate appearance, Taiga is a sarcastic, cynical, and prideful girl who is easily made angry or upset. She hates when people point out her height or call her the Palmtop Tiger. Her broken family has made her act this way. Despite her tendency to be aggressive, she is actually a kind person, especially to people she trusts, but because of her rudeness and how she acts in public, people won't see her nice and loyal personality. Appearance-wise, even though Taiga is a teenager, her short height (144,5 cm) and small weight (34 kg) makes her look like a younger child. She has long, curly orange-gold hair that falls past her waist in waves and large, dark amber eyes. She is "flat-chested" and is very ashamed about it, but often she makes up for this fact by her typically constant glare or menacing words. Taiga is usually seen wearing the school uniform, or long dresses, when outside. She wears long coats on top of dresses and is seen wearing a pair of stockings under long coats. She is a very well-dressed girl, coming from a rich family, and even her pajamas are elegant.

Some fun facts about Taiga Aisaka: 1) Her absolute favourite holiday is Christmas. 2) She does not know how to swim. 3) Taiga appears to be very proficient with a katana and exhibits evidence of having had advanced training in kendou. 4) She rarely eats anything healthy. 5) Taiga hates her figure, especially in a swimsuit.

If you have not seen Toradora!, I would 100% recommend it. It is awesome, funny, I guess you could add 'slightly romantic' and awesome again!

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